Fish-hook.



Patented Sept. I2, [899.

J. E. DAUGHERTY.

FISH HOOK.

iApplication filed Mar. 29, 1599.-

TNo Model.)

m: Nana's vz-rsns co. Puu'mumc" WASHINGTON. n. c

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH EMERSON DAUGHERTY, OF TIFFIN, OHIO.

FISH-HOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 633,081, datedSeptember 12, 1899.

Application filed March 29, 1899- Serial No.710,93l. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH EMERSON DAUGHERTY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Tiffin, in the county of Seneca and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fish-Hooks, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The particular kind of hooks to which my improvements are applied isthat in which the fish is caught by and between spring-actuated hooks,which are forced together and closed with a piercing action upon thefish; and the primary feature of my invention resides in provisionwhereby the pulling movement of the fish after having taken the baitbecomes the means by which the hooks are drawn down upon the bait-holderin position to be sprung and to seize the fish, and it is this pullingdown that becomes the means of tripping and springing thehooks, thepulling movement alone of the fish efiecting both these results throughthe instrumentality of the fish-line and its connection with thebaitholder. As a result of the fish pulling, the seizing action of thehooks is rendered independent of the bait.

The parts and combinations of parts wherein the improvements reside willbe pointed out in the claims herein read in connection with theaccompanying drawings, illustrating the improvements, and wherein-Figure 1 shows the hooks as set open for use. Fig. 2 shows a like viewwith the hooks in their closed relation. Fig. 3 shows a side view ofFig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the stock or body, showing thehook-arms as set. closed. Fig. 6 shows cross-sections taken on Fig. 1,respectively, on the line a b c, in which Fig. (3 shows the cap-plate 4and the springbrake 19, Fig. 6 shows the coil-spring 20 on the lippedcap 14, and Fig. 6 shows the rectangular form of the slide bait-rod 10and the loosely-fitting tube 9 of the stock 1,-and Fig. 7 shows the bodypart, to which the several parts of the hook are fixed. Fig. Sis one ofthe hooks, and Fig. 9 is the center tube, showing its end lugs forlooking it with the body part. Fig. 10 shows the sheave on thebait-holding rod.

The body part 1 is of .cast metal about two inches. long, formed with acenter bore 2 and Fig. 5 is a like section of the hooks as tubes 3 3 ontwo of its sides, which extend the length of the stock orbodypart,'andhave at their upper ends a fixed cross-cap 4, through the ends of whichthe bores of the tubes 3 extend, Fig. 7. At its other end the body parthas lugs 5 5, which project from its opposite widest sides, and betweenthese lugs the hooks 6 6 are pivoted. These hooks have'arms 77 at theirpivot-joints, and at the junction of the arms with the shanks of thehooks is formed a shoulder 8, which stands between the lugs. Aplate-spring 9 is riveted to the upper end at the flat sides of the bodypart and engages the shoulder 8 of the hook, pressing againstitoutward.so as to constantly tend to close eachhook. spring against thehook-shoulder 8 tends to drive the arm down, while the body part belowthe hook-pivot forms a stop, Fig. 5, to limit the closing movement ofthe hook, so that they need not lap when closed. Each pivoted hook isbifurcated, so as to form a pair, which spread apart from the shank asthey approach the points, so that they pierce the fish in oppositepairs.

The central tube of the body part contains a loosely-fitting tube 9, thebore of which is of square cross-section, Figs. 6 and 9, and whichcontains a slide bait-rod 10, also of square cross-section, having alength about two-thirds greater than that of the tubular body and withinwhich it is free to slide from end to end of its length. At its lowerend this rod has a swiveling bait-holder and at its upper end an eyedarm 11, which stands out from the rod in line wit-h one of the edgetubes of the body. A sheave 12 is mounted at the lower end of thebait-holding rod, and the fishing-line 13, fastened or retained in oneof the edge tubes of the body, passes through from said tube down aroundsaid sheave and up through the other edge tube and through the eye atthe upper end of the bait-rod and forms the means by which the hook iscaused to be operated by the pulling movement of the fish, similar tothe action of a block and tackle. The inner tube stands normally evenwith the upper end of the body part, Fig. 4, but projects a little belowits lowerend, in which position it is spring-held in a way and for apurpose which I shall presently state. At

the upper end of the tubular body a cap lat The force of this restsfreely and normally upon it and has lips 15 15 overhanging the widesides of the bod y, and this cap is held in place on the stock betweenthe edge tubes by the bait-rod, which passes through a square hole in itand also passes through a square hole in the fixed cap 4, Fig. 7, sothat said cap cannot turn. Between these two capplates a coil-spring 20is retained by the bait-rod, presses the lipped cap constantly downupon, and thereby keeps the inner tube 9 projecting normally a littlebelow the lower end of the body part, in which position it is retainedby side lugs 16 16, Fig. 9, at its upper end, fitted and seated incorresponding notches 17 17 in the upper end of the body part, and bywhich lugs and notches the tube is locked to the body part to prevent itfrom turning.

\Vhen the hooks are set for use, as in Fig. 1, their arms stand upagainst the flat sides of the body part and engage the lips 14 of thespring-pressed cap, by which the hooks are retained in open position tobe sprung to catch the fish. \Vhen the hooks are so set, the bait-rod ispushed down through the body part as far as it will go, so'that the baitend of the rod will extend at least two-thirds of its length below thebody part, this for an important purpose, because by it the hooks arepulled down by a block-and-tackle action on the fishing-line, as in Fig.3.

I prefer to use a cross-pin 18 as the means for holding the bait and toattach this pin by a piece of gut string to the swivel end of the slidebait-rod. In using minnows forbait the pin is placed across its lowerjaw, which gives the minnowgreater freedom of movement and is not asdestructive to the fish as a swallowed hook; but any desired bait can beused with the pin or other bait-holder.

To the fixed body-cap 4 a spring 19, Fig.7, is so attached as to have africtional bearing against the slide bait-rod 10, and the force of thisfrictional pressure on the said slide-rod forms a brake having aholding-force sulficient to overcome the weight of the device on theslide bait-rod which hangs from the fishing-line in the water byretaining the sliderod in its set relation to the body part, and withthe bait hanging three or four inches below the point at which the hookswhen sprung will pierce the fish. \Vhen,therefore,thc fish seizes andswallows the baited hook in its efforts to pull away, itwill, by meansof the fishing-line, thereby pull the hooks down 011 the slide-rod, soas to bring the fish within the piercing action of the hooks,and thelower end of the center tube 9 will by the same movement come in contactwith the rod'sheave, causing the tube to move up within the bore of thebody part against the spindle-pressed cap and release or trip its lipsfrom the ends of the hook-arms, when the hooks will be thrown down andpierce the fish between them, securely holding it. The ends of the armsare beveled,so that when pressed against the cap-lip 15 the cap willthereby be raised and allow the beveled ends to pass underand behind thelips to set the hooks against the force of the springs. The provision ofthe shoulder 8 at the pivoted end of the hook, while allowing the'springto be pressed back, also allows free force to the spring in throwing thehook when released, and for this purpose the free ends of the spring arehoused between the hook-pivoting lugs. The edge tubes serves as guidesfor the fishing-line to keep it in proper relation to the sheave, whilethe latter is inclosed by a metal case 19, fixed on the end of theslide-rod and which keeps the fishing-line always upon the sheave, Fig.10.

It is important to notice that while the hooks are pivoted at the lowerend of the body part, the shanks of the hooks when closed stand awayfrom the slide-rod, Fig. 2, to allow the sheave-easing to pass betweenthem by the pulling of the fish,which pulls the body part down until theprojecting end of the tripping-tube therein is caused to strike theupper part of or an extension of the sheave-case, as in Fig. 10, andthereby cause the center tube to be slightly raised to trip or releasethe hook arms. The sheave-ease therefore should always stand so that itsflat sides will stand between the hook-shanks when the hooks are sprung.

In order to hold the hook device on the rod on which it is caused toslide, as stated, the brake-spring 19 may be adjusted to give therequired frictional pressure against the rod, so that until the fish iscaught the hooks and the body part will be held by friction at the upperend of the slide-rod, as in Fig. 1; but the sliding of the hook partupon and to the lower end of the said rod is effected by the pullingmovements of the fish in its efforts to get free, and which brings thehooks within their piercing sweep on each side of the fish. By thisconstruction and the sliding movement of the hook carrying body partupon a suspended guide-rod an important advantage is gained by causingthe hooks to be moved bodily when set toward the fish a considerabledistance before they are sprung to catch the fish, so that the bait iscomparatively far away from the hooks and there is nothing near it tofrighten the fish away.

The line guide-eye at the upper end of the bait-holding rod forms a stopin setting the body part at the upper end of the rod and prevents theaccidental escape of the rod from the body-bore, while thespring-pressed cap seated freely on the upper end of the center tubekeeps it down below the body to receive by contact with the sheave-easethe upward pushing or lifting action of the bait-holding rod forreleasing or tripping the hooks as they are pulled down with the bodypartto effect their seizing the fish after having swallowed the bait-pinand by its pulling movements upon that end of the line which is fastenedto the body part and by which the line draws upon the sheave as a fixedpoint. In this operation the bait-holdin g rod forms practically a fixedpart, because it is suspended from its sheaved end by the fishing-line,the surface or controlling end of which is also fixed so that anypulling by the fish draws down the hook-carrying part upon the bait-rod.

It is important to note that the fishing-line has a fixed connectionwith the upper end 21, Fig. 3, of one of the body-tubes and passes fromsuch fixed. point down through the tube to and beneath the sheave of thebait-holding rod and up through the tube at the other side of the bodypart, and thence through the eyed arm on the upper end of said rod. Thisconstruction of body-tubes, while serving to house the line and preventits becoming entangled with the body or hook parts, serves also theimportant purpose of suspending the hook device practically from thesheaved end of the baitvholding rod, through the instrumentality of thefriction-holding spring, and as the means of pulling down the hook partin the manner of a block and tackle, but with a downward instead of alifting action. The line can be used with floats in trolling and withthe ordinary bank-stake lines.

While I have illustrated and described a fish-hook embodying myinvention in the form at present preferred by me, I do not Wish to beunderstood as limiting myself to the exact construction and arrangementshown and described, as such changes and modifications may be made asclearly fall within the claims and the scope of my invention and withoutdeparting from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantagesthereof; nor is it intended to limit my invention to the form of squarecross-section of the bait-holding rod, nor to the particular mannershown in which the stock or body part is slidably held upon thebait-holding rod.

I claim' 1. Inafish-hook, a body part, spring-actuated hooks pivotedthereto, means for setting said hooks, a bait-holding rod within andpassing through the body part,and having a sheave at its lower end, incombination with the fishing-line connected to the body part and passingaround said sheave, and a device on the body part in frictional pressureupon the rod, whereby the hook device is held suspended on the rod, andpulled down thereon by the downward pulling of the fish 011 the line,and means for tripping the hooks.

2. In a spring-actuated fish-hook and in combination with a suitablebody part of spring-actuated hooks pivoted thereto, and a rod on whichthe body is free to slide and provided with a sheave at its lower end,of the fishing-line secured to said body partand passing downwardtherefrom around the sheave and upward to the point of surface control,means on the body part for engaging and holding it upon the rod with aforce which the pulling of the fish upon the line fastened to the bodyovercomes, means for setting the hooks and means for releasing thehooks.

3. In a fish-hook andin combination with the fishing-line, of a bodypart to which the line is connected, spring actuated hooks pivoted tosaid body part, and a rod on which the body part is adapted to slide,and having a sheave at its lower end around which the line passes, meansforfrictionally holding the body part on said rod with sufficient forceto counterbalance its weight, means for holding said hooks in positionto be sprung upon the fish, and a bait-holder on said rod below thesheave, whereby the pulling movements of the fish is caused to draw uponthe line to pull thereby the body part down on said rod to bringitshooks in position to seize thefish, means whereby to trip the hooks intheir seizing function.

4. In a fish-hook and in combination with a body part, spring-actuatedhooks pivoted thereto, and means for holding said hooks in position tobe sprung, of a rod, on which the bod y part is adapted to slide, havinga sheave at its lower end, a case on said rod inclosing said sheave, thefishing-line connected to the body part at one side thereof and passingaround the sheave and up through a guidetube at the opposite side of thebody part, and a bait holder on said rod below the sheave, whereby thebody part is caused to slide down on the rod, and means for tripping thehooks to seize the fish in the way described.

5. In a fish-hook and in combination with a bait-holding rod having asheave at its lower end, of a body part having a center bore and notchesin the opposite sides at its upper end, spring-actuated hooks pivoted tosaid body part and having setting-arms, a tube adapted to slide withinthe body-bore normally projecting below it and provided with lugsengaging the notches at the upper end of the body part, a spring-pressedcap, loose on the upper end of said tube, and having depending lips forengaging the hookarms to hold the hooks open, and the fishinglinefastened at one slide of the body part, passing around the sheave and upat the other side of the body, for operation in the way described.

6. In a fish-hook and in combination with a body part having a centerbore and notches in its upper end and spring-actuated hooks pivotedthereto and having setting-arms, of a tube adapted to move endwisewithinv said bore, having its bore of angular cross-section and providedwith lugs engaging said notches, a spring-pressed cap loose on the upperend of said tube adapted to engage and set the hooks, a bait-holding rodwithin the tube, of angular cross-section having a length much greaterthan the body part, and provided with a sheave at its lower end, meanson the rod for releasing the hooks, and the fishing-line connected tosaid body part and passing IIS around the rod-sheave, the said tubebeing prevented from turning Within the tube, the line forming the meansby which the body part is pulled down on the rod to cause the hooks tobe tripped.

7. In a fish-hook, a bait-holding rod having a sheave at its lower end,in combination with spring-actuated hooks, a body part to which saidhooks are pivoted and movable upon said rod, the fishing-line connectedto said body part passing under and around the sheave, and up to thesurface-controlling point of said line, and a friction-holding devicefixed on the body part and engaging by pressure the bait-holding rod,means for setting and means for releasing said hooks, whereby the bodywith its hooks is pulled down while being frictionally held upon the rodto catch the fish in the way stated.

8. In a fish-hook, a bait-holding rod having a sheave at its lower end,in combination with a body part adapted to slide upon the rod hookspivoted to said body part, means for retaining them in open position,springs connected togive the hooks their piercing function, means fortripping the hooks and means for frietionally retaining the body part infixed relation to and upon said bait-holding rod, and the fishing-lineconnecting the body part and the sheave, whereby the pull of the fish iscaused to pull the body part down upon said rod to actuate the means fortripping the piercing-hooks.

9. In a fish-hook, a bait-holding rod, and a housed sheave at thelowerend thereof,in combination with a body part adapted to slide uponthe rod,spring-actuated hooks pivoted to the body part having arms andshoulders at the pivot-bearings of said hooks, means for settingandmeans for tripping the hooks consisting of the spring-pressed caploosely seated on the upper end of the body part and having lips forengaging the hook-arms, a center tube seated in a bore in the body, andon which the cap is seated, springs arranged to engage the shoulders ofthe hooks, and the fishing-line connected to one side of the body partand passing around the sheave to the other side of said body to thesurface-point of control for operation in tripping the hooks in the Waystated.

10. In a fish-hook, a bait-holding rod, having a sheave at its lowerend, in combination with a body part movable upon said rod,spring-actuated hooks pivoted upon said body part and having arms, acenter tube in the body part through which said rod passes a cap havinglips, and a spring for maintaining said cap upon the end of said tube,the fishing-line connected to said body part passing under therod-sheave, and a frictional holdingspring fixed on the body part andengaging the bait-holding rod, means for setting the hooks in engagementwith the cap and means for releasing the hooks in the downward movementof the body part upon said rod.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH EHERSON llAUGlllllt'll'.

Witnesses:

HARRY P. BLACK, JAMES II. PLA'r'r.

